Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
  • G06Q40/04—Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
  • G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
  • G06F16/954—Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to data processing.
• the invention relates more specifically to information display.
• BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003]
• the approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
• Modern display or presentation devices typically include computer apparatus such as networked, desktop, laptop, handheld or tablet personal computers (PCs), personal digital * assistants (PDAs), interactive television terminals, gaming apparatus and cell phones.
• Each item of apparatus usually has a single display, and this may be in the form of a traditional computer, television or cell phone display screen or may take the form of projection equipment, virtual reality goggles, projection spectacles, holographic projections, electronic paper or cerebral implants.
• a browser that configures display windows in three dimensions is described in International Patent Application Publication Number WO 01/82295.
• Each of the five navigable inside faces can open into a further cube.
• the aim is to enable the viewer simultaneously to see several pages selected by the viewer. This could be especially useful where the content on the five pages is being compared or contrasted.
• Another method for searching and presenting information in a geography-based configuration which also provides realistic navigation is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication Number US 2002/0059207 Al.
• This method converts multiple aerial photos of an actual city into a three-dimensional stereoscopic aerial view, and allows the viewer to move across this view, simulating a 'sight-seeing fight', and to request information pertaining to his or her location. This is done by linking the latitude and longitude of the viewer's position with 'landmark databases' compiled using conventional Internet searches based on keywords or other verbal expressions. Multiple viewers can interact and be tracked. [0009] Another method comprising a self-organizing allocation process for the display of large volumes of material content is described in US Patent Number 6,308,202.
• the invention relates to a method of organizing and displaying a large volume of material content in a manner that can be easily browsed and accurately navigated by a viewer without relying upon the viewer's, nor the content providers', skills in language or logic.
• the material content may be information in any form, for example: data, numbers, text, still images such as photographs and graphics, moving images, virtual control panels and sound. It may be retrieved from a local computer disk or removable storage media or any form of network such as a local area network, a wireless network, a cell phone network, a wide area network, an internet, extranet or the Internet.
• the invention may, for example, be used for displaying material content on a computer screen and navigating through the type of material content typically found on the Internet.
• a computer system comprising: at least one content providing computer that is communicatively coupled to a network and that is associated with network location identifiers; at least one city server that is communicatively coupled to the network, wherein the city server hosts a data definition of a virtual three-dimensional space comprising a plurality of virtual display windows, wherein each of the virtual display windows is allocated a specific position in the space and is associated with the network location identifier; at least one client computer that is communicatively coupled to the network, wherein the client computer hosts a three-dimensional virtual space browser that is configured for receiving network content from the content providing computer based on the network location identifier and for displaying the virtual display windows along pre-defined channels within the virtual three-dimensional space, wherem many of the display windows are enabled for interaction.
• the browser is configured for performing the steps of: receiving network content from the content provider based on the network location identifier; and rendering and displaying the virtual display windows within the virtual three-dimensional space by: dynamically selecting one or more of the virtual display windows; rendering content associated with each of the selected one or more virtual display windows to memory; and copying the rendered content into one or more designated virtual display windows.
• the browser comprises one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: mapping a plurality of display windows within a virtual three-dimensional space so that each display window is allocated a specific and predetermined position in the space, rendering each display window in three-dimensional perspective according to its position and angle relative to a viewer's virtual position in the virtual space, cross-referencing the position of each display window to a network address or storage location of the material content that is designated to be rendered in that particular display window at a particular time based on at least one predetermined condition, allocating at least part of the three-dimensional virtual space to display windows whose content is not chosen or determined by the viewer, selecting, retrieving and preparing material content for possible subsequent display, according to a predetermined algorithm, selecting and rendering prepared material content within its cross- referenced display window, according to a predetermined algorithm, providing a means of virtual navigation that changes the viewer's position in the space in such a manner as to simulate movement through a pluralit
• a computer program configured as such a browser, and a method for presenting material content comprising equivalent steps are also provided, and apparatus for performing such a method, and a virtual space manager.
• Another aspect provides a city server computer system adapted to be communicatively coupled to a network, and to host a data definition of a virtual three dimensional space which comprises a plurality of virtual display windows, wherein each of the virtual display windows is allocated a specific position in the space and is associated with a network location identifier for a content providing computer which is adapted to be communicatively coupled to the network.
• the present invention has advantages because it does not rely upon language and logic in browsing and navigating large volumes of content. Instead of relying upon language and logic, the invention makes it possible to indicate the relevance of content to a viewer by applying a rule of spatial proximity. Specifically, if content A is relevant to the viewer, and content B is similarly relevant, then A and B can be positioned near to one another, so that the viewer of content A is likely also to see content B with a minimum of navigation.
• the present invention may utilize and uniquely combine three methods:
• Embodiments of the present invention differ from WO 01/82295 in several respects: in particular because the display windows in the present invention have fixed, specified positions in the space rather than being subject to manipulation by the viewer, and the content on display is predetermined by cross-references rather than by the viewer.
• Various embodiments of the present invention differ from US 2002/0059207 Al in several respects: the content being presented in the present invention is organized by predetermined cross references rather than by reference to their physical property locations, and material content is directly displayed in windows forming part of the landscape being viewed rather than indirectly displayed as separate page data.
• Various embodiments of the present invention differ from US 6,308,202 in several respects, particularly since material content in the present invention is displayed in predetermined cross-referenced display windows.
• content providers select relative positions in a virtual space to describe their content rather than use verbal categories; the exposure of viewers to relevant secondary content is achieved by virtue of the required realistic method of navigation, rather than it being imposed as a separate unrequested display of content; and due to the competitive nature of the self- organising process, the 'description' (i.e. the position in the virtual space) assigned to any particular material content reflects not just its meaning but also the value ascribed to that content by its provider.
• the present invention benefits both content providers and content viewers: [0026] Content providers using embodiments of the invention have control over where and how their content is seen in the context of all content, rather than granting that control to third-party content categorizers or the rule-makers of search engine software. Content providers using embodiments of the invention also need not rely on verbal descriptions (e.g. domain names, meta-text, directory entries, or descriptive advertisements) to attract interested viewers, but instead can attract relevant viewers to their content by means of its contextual position and the quality of its visual treatment. Because the self-organizing is competitive, the prominence of displayed content is commensurate with the importance of the communication to the content provider.
• verbal descriptions e.g. domain names, meta-text, directory entries, or descriptive advertisements
• Viewers using embodiments of the invention can rely upon the naturalistic, nonverbal experience of perceiving the relatedness of two entities by their spatial proximity, rather than relying upon terms or names they happen to recall, or entering topics into search engines in accordance with Boolean logic. Viewers can also more rapidly decide the relevance of content by relying on quick visual impressions rather than reading lists of arbitrary text excerpts. Lastly, viewers using embodiments of the invention can experience the serendipity of discovering new, hitherto-unknown content, or content that its provider considers to be of interest to them, rather than being limited to content that the viewer has had to search for and therefore must already know about.
• the present invention enables the designation and fixing of the association of material content with other material content in a three-dimensional space containing display windows that are each rendered in three-dimensional perspective.
• the configuration of these display windows, each containing material content is analogous to shop windows on a city street.
• content providers may be invited to specify their material content to appear in a particular window which by virtual spatial proximity associates their material content with what they consider to be related material content in surrounding and nearby display windows.
• associated content presented in display windows, will self-organize into virtual neighborhoods of related content that the user can browse as one would the shop windows along streets of a city. Having located a display window with content of interest to the user, the user may without verbal or logical discernment easily find other content in nearby windows that its providers have decided would also be of interest to the user.
• FIG. 1 is a. diagram of a screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method
• FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the sequence of steps of an information display method
• FIG. 3 is a diagram of a screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method
• FIG. 4 is a diagram of a screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method
• FIG. 5 A is a block diagram of a city server system
• FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating further architectural elements of the system of FIG. 5 A;
• FIG. 6A is a flow diagram of a process of establishing a city server;
• FIG. 6B is a flow diagram of a process of browsing a virtual city;
• FIG. 6C is a diagram of a virtual city screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method;
• FIG. 6D is a diagram of a virtual city grid screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method
• FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a process of renewing a transaction associated with a display window in a virtual city
• FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a process of auctioning a right to display information in a display window of a virtual city
• FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process of transferring a right to display information in a display window of a virtual city
• FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example virtual space browsing system in which an embodiment may be used.
• FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.
• FIG. 1 a display 1 , which may be a screen of a computer, is shown, on which is depicted an image of a virtual street 2 seen in three-dimensional perspective from the middle of the street 2. Buildings 3 are located on each side of the street 2, and each has one or more virtual display windows 4 facing the street 2.
• each display window 4 is chosen to match the content to be displayed, but in the embodiment using Internet pages is chosen to match that of the normal visible HTML page area in a traditional Internet browser, i.e., the standard screen size minus the space used by scrollbars and tool bars. This gives the viewer the impression that he is standing in a street having shops with shop windows on each side.
• Each virtual display window 4 shows a page of content retrieved from an Internet HTML page. These may be the home pages of commercial concerns or pages specially generated for display in this format.
• the actual number of visible display windows will be chosen so that the overall view looks realistic and so that a reasonable number of the windows are clearly visible.
• the number can be variable in dependence upon the performance of the computer or adjustable by the viewer to enhance performance or to enhance the detail of rendering of content in the windows. For example, it may be appropriate to display two blocks of the street at a time and three windows on each side in each block but to replace the more distant windows with a low-resolution rendering or even a small icon.
• the viewer's viewpoint can be moved up or down the street 2 and as it is moved, the display changes to bring other windows 4 into view and to change the relative sizes of the displayed buildings 3. The changes must be accomplished realistically and smoothly.
• the viewer can also turn left or right to face a particular window to inspect more carefully the content displayed there.
• the content comprises Internet HTML pages then at that point the HTML page displayed in that window can be opened by the viewer to fill a separate Internet browser of more traditional two-dimensional appearance.
• the viewer can then interact with the chosen HTML page in the traditional manner, for example by using mouse clicks on a part of it to access another page of information or to make a choice such as initiating a purchase from a shopping system represented on the page.
• the street 2 is part of a larger virtual space such as an urban landscape in the form of a town or city set out in a grid-like city block layout although the layout of the landscape need not necessarily be in the form of a uniform perpendicular grid: "curved roads” and “traffic circles” may be incorporated and narrow “paths” may lead off from wider "streets”. "Hilly” surfaces and “ravines” or other geographic representations may be included.
• the virtual space may be limited or infinite or limited in some directions and may be on more than one plane.
• the display windows will typically have straight edges as shown in FIG. 1, but may be made more eye-catching with decorated frames.
• the viewer can navigate through the landscape by making appropriate key strokes on the keyboard, by mouse movements or by using a joystick, track pad, trackball, touch screen, remote control or virtual reality gloves or a steering wheel, in manners known to persons skilled in the art.
• Several navigation speeds are envisaged which would generally be under the control of the viewer.
• the viewer may "move” at walking speed through the "streets” or may choose to move at the equivalent speed of a taxi, within the same plane as the display windows.
• the viewer may also opt to move at an even higher speed in a different plane to the display windows, for example in a manner analogous to a subway system or a helicopter.
• Each display window 4 may be sold or rented to a commercial concern or other organization and has a fixed position in the landscape, in a similar manner to the fixed addresses of shops or businesses in a real town or city. In this way the viewer becomes familiar with the positions of his or her favored windows and can easily search and select relevant "neighborhoods" of material content.
• the display is organized by a controlling browser program operating locally, e.g. on the viewer's computer terminal.
• the browser program controls the display of the virtual landscape, navigation of the viewer's position through the landscape, and the retrieval, preparation and rendering of content displayed in each window.
• the URL of the Internet HTML page of each relevant commercial concern owning or renting a display window is associated in the program with the specific display window the concern has reserved.
• bitmap screenshots of a set of HTML pages relevant to the windows in the local vicinity of the viewer in the landscape e.g. those associated with all of the display windows in the blocks and streets adjacent to or around the corner from the viewer
• this uses an adapted HTML page-rendering engine which can import live HTML pages in a way in which their contents are reproduced dynamically.
• a set of live HTML pages is continuously saved in memory at the viewer' terminal.
• the number of HTML pages thus saved will depend upon the available memory and the processing power of the terminal as well as the number of windows displayed on the screen at any one time, but might typically be 9.
• the corresponding cached HTML page is copied by the program from the internal memory and rendered in the window.
• the page is not rendered dynamically until the viewer turns toward it (and "clicks" on it or remains in that position for a set period of time), at which stage the dynamically cached page may be displayed in a two dimensional, conventional-style browser display box. Totally live dynamic rendering of all visible HTML pages in-situ on a street would be possible with sufficient processing power.
• the rights holder may test the appearance of their display window and view statistics or contour maps indicating the number and frequency of visits to their window and/or simulations of corresponding virtual "property values".
• the layout of the "city” is detailed in a standard format XML file in the form of plot data, which in the example given is for a three window by three- window city block grid layout, although other layouts are possible.
• the XML file may be contained in the control program loaded on the viewer's computer (the client) or may be retrievable from a remote server via a standard HTTP connection in which case there will be security to protect the integrity of the file.
• any of the pages may incorporate sounds but it is most practical to suppress sounds from pages other than those closest to the viewer. For example sound on the pages in the windows directly to the left and the right of the viewer's nominal position could each be set at a volume of 50% in the left and the right stereo channels respectively. If a viewer turns to face a page then that page plays at 100% volume. When a page is more than halfway out of view the volume is lowered to 25%, and the volume of the next page is increased to 25%. [0060] As already mentioned, navigation may be performed by keyboard strokes, mouse movements or a joystick. Traditionally the arrow keys on a keyboard are used for movement e.g.
• the viewpoint moves forward at a predetermined pace, and releasing the "up” key stops the viewpoint at the next full window, i.e. at the point when the nearest vertical edges of the windows abut the left and right vertical edges of the display area. Pressing the “down” key moves the viewer back (while facing forward) and the "left” key makes the viewer turn to face the window to the left. Likewise the “right” key is used for a right turn. At intersections of "streets” the "right” key turns the user right onto the perpendicular "street” and the "left” key turns the user left onto that "street”.
• More advanced forms of navigation can be incorporated, for example using a variety of keys, mouse-movement controls and right-click shortcuts and these are well known, particularly in the field of video game programming and usage.
• a typical long distance "journey” might take 10 to 15 seconds and during this simulated journey the control program activates the display to the viewer of a series of advertisements which would typically be paid for by the owners of the display windows near the destination station. This would be analogous to advertising hoardings at real underground train stations and on real underground trains.
• the viewer At the destination station in a different part of the virtual town, the viewer would "exit” the station through another window rendered as a train station and emerge into a street rendered with the HTML pages chosen by owners of display windows in that part of the "city”.
• the virtual city is typically entered only via designated gateways or portals to facilitate the viewer's familiarity with and navigation through the landscape.
• Gateways There is a single major "default" gateway, and a series of secondary gateways which can be selected from a map or menu or randomly offered to a viewer.
• the underground train stations would comprise some of the secondary gateways. Gateways could be depicted in striking or memorable designs to aid navigation.
• the selection of which gateway is used to enter the virtual city can be made by a viewer each time the program is launched but if no selection is made then the entry gateway will default to the main gateway.
• a bird's-eye view topological map of the whole virtual city or the neighborhood or district in which the viewer is located at any one time is displayed, either adjacent to or behind the main viewing window.
• the path taken by the viewer may be highlighted on this map, either for the current session alone or for the current and at least one previous session.
• a zoom option would also be provided, leading to the display of larger, more detailed maps.
• Such a map may have certain "landmark" display windows marked, these possibly being determined by the owners having paid a fee to appear on the large scale maps.
• Such a companion could move just in front of the notional position of the viewer and might point out new window displays, changes, promotions, sales or windows which are considered likely to interest the viewer on the basis of past navigational behavior.
• Several viewers can "window- shop” together if they are logged on simultaneously.
• a means of communicating between the viewers such as a text or voice chat line for conversation, or an on-screen messaging facility, may also be incorporated and the technology for such features is well known.
• Viewers could also be given a visual representation of the number of other viewers in their current vicinity: for example a translucent silhouette of one person representing one thousand, or one million, other viewers.
• the virtual buildings could have several stories, allowing different levels of windows, analogous to different stories of a shopping mall in real life. To the elevations of these virtual buildings where a display is not practicable could be affixed advertisements or virtual signs relating to the display windows immediately below them, providing a means of attracting viewers to navigate their way towards the advertiser's display window.
• Streets and neighborhoods may be assigned names to assist in navigation for the viewer and to facilitate the sale or rental of prime locations. Landmarks may also be incorporated to assist the viewer in navigation. For example statues, architecturally interesting buildings such as distinctively decorated or designed buildings, fountains and parks may be used to identify specific areas of the landscape.
• Adjacent windows could be merged to create larger windows and several different virtual cities could be created and linked by a rapid transport system in a similar way to the underground railway described above.
• viewers will pass "through” the windows and the screen will then display a virtual rendering of the "inside" of an associated establishment.
• the display window of a supermarket can be a gateway into the virtual supermarket itself and on “entering” the window the viewer would see the virtual "streets" become virtual aisles of the supermarket.
• HTML pages of internet sites in the windows lining the aisles HTML pages of sets of product images are displayed and a "click" on an individual product initiates a dialog box to display product details as supplied by the retailer: for example, ingredients or other details or the sizes, prices or colors available.
• a transparent interface with the retailer's own existing shopping cart may be provided in the control program.
• the virtual town may be replaced by other virtual three-dimensional spaces in addition to the above example of a virtual department store, supermarket or retail catalogue establishment.
• a virtual shopping mall would be populated with display windows representing a variety of shop fronts or a virtual museum with exhibition cases or exhibits.
• Other applications are envisaged such as virtual tours of representations of actual cities, virtual trade fairs, virtual photo libraries, entertainment choices (e.g. videogame selection), TV program selection, or business or academic libraries. It would also be possible to use this method to access technical data or medical records.
• Display window owners or tenants can utilize the top portion of the window for a display sign or banner of their name label or brand for the convenience of the viewers.
• Many further advertising "signs” and “hoardings” could be incorporated such as to resemble hanging signs and sandwich signs outside a shop window, as well as display advertisements on the floor of the street outside a window or directing viewers to a particular window.
• the browser software preferably comprises two sections.
• a first section running at high priority, controls the display of the virtual three- dimensional environment (e.g., the virtual city) and the navigation of the viewer around that environment.
• a second section running at lower priority, updates the content for display windows.
• step A the browser is first initiated and may run several brief benchmarking tests to determine the optimal settings that will ensure a smooth and responsive display. This benchmarking is determined by assessing the resources available, i.e. the computing speed, graphics card, and memory capabilities of the client computer.
• step B the browser then retrieves the layout of the virtual space or world to be displayed (e.g. the virtual city) from the remote server computer or a file saved locally.
• step C the retrieved layout is used by the software to map the virtual city for internal use by the viewer's computer (the client) and the browser generates a simulated three-dimensional environment depicting display windows closest to the nominal position of the viewer, for example at the default gateway. The perspective is adjusted to ensure that items closer to the nominal position of the viewer are larger.
• Each display window 4 has a relative width and height to match (or have similar proportions to) that of the visible HTML page area in a traditional Internet browser. This would typically be the standard screen size minus the space used by scroll bars and toolbars.
• step D The size of the display windows, resolution of the graphical textures in the display windows and number of rendering threads depends upon the benchmark conditions established in the initialization process. For illustration purposes, blocks of three display windows length and width are considered as shown in FIG. 1, but any configuration would be possible.
• the browser then assigns addresses, typically URL addresses for HTML pages, to each window according to the retrieved layout.
• addresses typically URL addresses for HTML pages
• step E the browser displays the three-dimensional environment on the display.
• step F the viewer can move around in the area of the street or corridor 2 between the display windows 4 and the viewer can interact with individual display windows
• the browser also enables the viewer to interact with an underground railway station and in that case displays a map of available underground railway destinations from which the viewer can make a selection.
• step G the browser has several threads running simultaneously, each processing material content and updating the texture used for the respective display windows.
• an algorithm running in a control thread determines which display windows require updating based on a number of factors including the locality of the user and the age of displayed content,
• the browser may initiate a connection to download the source data
• Log files may be used for recording the frequency with which viewers pass-by, draw close to, or interact with any display window, and thus data can potentially be provided in summary to commercial owners and tenants either free or for consideration. Such data can be displayed as a contour map indicating traffic densities across the virtual space.
• the technical approach described here involves the textures used for the display windows being rendered by the client program. In an alternative technical approach, a centralized cluster of servers could create the textures, and these could be downloaded by the client program.
• the virtual space may be used in an analogous way to any property space and new properties can be sold or leased, ground rents and service charges imposed, property tax applied to transfers of window rights, an administration charge made for sales, and procedures adapted to re-possess voided leases.
• advertising space, markings and signage can be leased, virtual moving advertising carriers included (e.g. vans or floating items), avatar shopping guides provided, and coupons could be distributed to viewers passing a particular window.
• Advertising agencies can act as virtual property agents for clients and virtual outdoor media owners can act as display window aggregators. Multiple interlinked three-dimensional "worlds,” each containing one or more "cities,” can be represented, and technology companies could each host separate such "worlds.”
• FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show alternative views of the three-dimensional space.
• the viewer is at a "corner” of a "street” with a “side street” running off to the left.
• FIG. 4 the viewer is facing a display window and could potentially interact with the window in the manner of a conventional two-dimensional browser.
• a virtual city comprises one or more virtual multi-storey buildings.
• Each storey of the multi-storey buildings comprises one or more virtual display windows.
• Such an embodiment provides a larger number of available virtual display windows than an embodiment in which all virtual display windows form part of one-storey buildings.
• STRUCTURAL OVERVIEW; CITY SERVER ARCHITECTURE [0110]
• FIG. 5 A is a block diagram of a city server system that may be used to implement an embodiment.
• One or more computers 512A, 512N hosting respective copies of a browser 504 are communicatively coupled to a network 510.
• One or more city servers 501 A, 50 IB, 501N are communicatively coupled to network 510.
• a universe server 500 is also coupled to network 510 and supervises or manages the city servers 501A, 501B, 501N.
• network 510 comprises one or more local area networks, wide area networks, internetworks, or a combination thereof consisting of any number of direct or indirect links of any form, including wired metal or optical links, or wireless radio-frequency links, etc.
• Each city server 501 A, 501B, 501N comprises a computer system that can host and deliver applications that enroll tenants for display of content in virtual windows of a virtual city, and that can host and deliver a virtual city browsing experience to a user of the computers 512A, 512N.
• a particular city server 501A can host and deliver one or more virtual cities to clients such as browsers 504.
• Universe server 500 comprises a computer system that hosts a database identifying all city servers 501 A, 501B, 50 IN and that can interact with computers 512A, 512N to enable selection of a particular city server for a browsing session.
• Universe server 500 may be implemented as a process attached to a database.
• One or more processes in the universe server 500 enable a list of virtual cities to be available to all city servers 501 A, 501B, 501N and browsers 504. Further, by managing the virtual city list, universe server 500 may selectively cut off access to particular virtual cities for a specified time period or permanently.
• universe server 500 acts as an authoritative directory for all city servers 501A, 501B, 501N.
• Universe server 500 also may manage and deliver template representations 528 for cities to enable users to create user cities, as described further below. In another embodiment, the template representations of cities are located on city servers rather than the universe server.
• universe server 500 communicates with city servers 501A, 501B, 501N using a secure streaming protocol.
• the streaming protocol provides a computer system and programming language neutral compact binary format to permit communication between the different components of the system .
• City servers 501 A, 501B, 501N communicate with browser 504 using a data definition of a virtual city.
• an XML stream or file represents a virtual city and is delivered on demand from city servers 501 A, 501B, 501N to browser 504.
• FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating further architectural elements of the system of FIG. 5 A.
• a city server 502 comprises one or more front-end servers 502A, 502B, a content database 506, one or more services or applications 526, and one or more interfaces 524.
• City server 502 also hosts, is linked to, or can access an auction system 520, one or more copies of a three-dimensional virtual space browser 504, a data definition of a virtual world 528, an account database 521, and a payment system 522.
• one or more content providers 508 A, 508B are communicatively coupled to network 510.
• city server 502 hosts a master copy of browser 504 and can deliver copies to requesting clients upon demand.
• a third party hosts the master copy and delivers copies to clients upon demand or in response to instructions from the city server.
• the location in the system of a master copy of browser 504 is not critical, provided that client computers can access a copy in some manner upon demand. Clients that receive copies of the browser 504 install the browser and execute it in the client machine.
• the one or more front-end servers 502 A, 502B interact in a server-client relationship with computers 512A, 512B, 512C that are browsing or viewing a virtual city or virtual world that is offered by the city server 502.
• front-end servers 502 A, 502B are responsible for receiving requests from computers 512A, 512B, 512C and delivering copies of the data definition 528 to the requesting computers.
• Front-end servers 502 A, 502B also may include a statistics module configured to request and receive statistical information or navigation information from browser 504 at any of the computers 512A, 512B, 512C.
• the statistics module is also configured for processing the statistical or navigation information, and providing aggregated or summary information to other elements of the city server 502.
• the statistics processor is separate to the front-end servers 502 A, 502B.
• front-end servers 502 A, 502B communicate with other elements of a city server 502 using the secure streaming protocol identified above.
• the data definition 528 describes a virtual world or virtual city as defined by an owner or operator of city server 502.
• data definition 528 comprises one or more XML files that describe a virtual city.
• An example of an XML representation of a virtual city is provided herein in Appendix 1.
• the XML files provide functions as follows.
• Content database 506 stores information about one or more content providers that provide information content for display at the computers 512A, 512B, 512C within display windows of a virtual city hosted by the city server 502.
• Content providers 508A, 508B may comprise any parties that may potentially display advertisements or information content in virtual display windows of a virtual city defined by the city server 502, such as Web sites, advertisers, or other online service providers, merchants, etc.
• the content database 506 indicates which content provider is currently responsible for delivering content when a particular computer 512C navigates to a particular window in the virtual city or virtual world. This would include the location of the content and the identity of the display window to which the content is cross-referenced.
• the services or applications 526 comprise one or more computer programs or other software elements that implement services provided by the city server 502. Examples of services include enrolling content tenants, negotiating renewals of leases for virtual display windows with content tenants, administrative services relating to tenant accounts, administrative tools for defining a layout of the virtual city hosted by the city server 502, etc.
• Interfaces 524 may comprise a graphical user interface or an electronic interface accessible to processes or machines, such as an application programming interface (API).
• city server 502 may provide a GUI for administrative use, a Web GUI interface for use by tenants holding accounts associated with the virtual city, an API for updating content information, etc.
• interfaces 524 provide methods for users or processes to access services and applications 526 for the purpose of performing the processes described herein with respect to FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9.
• city server 502 can auction rights to display content at one or more virtual display windows in the virtual city associated with the city server, according to processes described further herein. For example, to initially transfer display rights to a tenant, or to transfer display rights at the time that a tenant fails to renew a prior right, city server 502 can auction display rights to the highest bidder using an online auction system.
• Account database 521 stores information about tenants of a virtual city and status of payment for virtual display rights.
• the account database may store account information, contact information, etc, about such content providers or tenants.
• Payment system 522 receives and processes payments for display rights.
• each city server 502 is owned or operated by a party in the business of offering virtual display windows for lease in exchange for consideration in the nature of rental fees.
• the ownership or operation of different aspects of the city server could be separated.
• the City Server could be represented by several computer servers. For example, all of the services relating to the City Server with the exception of the Front End Servers could be hosted by the same party that hosts the Universe
• the one or more Front End Servers could be operated by the service provider that operates the city or cities.
• a user city server is owned or operated by a service provider who allows end users to create their own virtual cities that are hosted and delivered by the service provider. Such a user city server also may be owned or operated by any other party. Such user cities may be restricted to being smaller than commercial virtual cities in terms of the number of virtual display windows. In this embodiment, the user city server delivers the user cities in the same manner as commercial virtual cities.
• the universe server or the user city server provides one or more baseline virtual city templates that may be used by users to develop particular virtual cities.
• a template representation of a user city may include one or more values not found in a normal virtual city.
• a user city template representation may contain additional instructions that indicate how the city template can be extended.
• user cities as represented by text in an XML file could potentially be hosted on any web server, much like a web page, without any of the other functionality of the City Server. Such user cities would also not allow for any detailed statistical tracking of movements within the user cities.
• FIG. 6A is a flow diagram of a process of establishing a city server.
• the process of FIG. 6A is implemented as part of services and applications 526 in a city server 502.
• a three-dimensional virtual space browser is offered.
• city server 502 hosts an HTML document that contains links for downloading copies of virtual space browser 504.
• the exclusive right to display an advertisement or other content in a particular virtual space window for a specified time period is offered.
• city server 502 may provide one or more HTML documents that specify display window locations in a virtual city and provide an offer to lease a display right for such locations for a specified fee or rent amount.
• Step 606 an account is created for a content provider.
• a content provider such as an advertiser or an owner or operator of a Web site, has viewed the offers of step 604, selected a particular virtual space that the content provider wishes to lease, and indicated interest in leasing, for example, by selecting a link that notifies the city server
• an offer of payment is received from a content provider.
• content provider 508A may offer a particular fee or agree to pay a fee or rental amount or deposit that is advertised by the city server in connection with the selected space.
• step 610 the city server and content provider negotiate the duration of a virtual window display lease, payment amount, and other terms of a lease transaction as necessary.
• Step 610 may be performed through human interaction or through manual or automated exchange of electronic messages.
• a payment is processed.
• city server 502 receives an
• HTML document representing payment information from the content provider 508 A.
• a city server virtual window lease transaction is complete.
• network location data is received from the content provider, and at step 616 the network location data is stored in a content database.
• content provider 508A provides, to city server 502, a URL or other identifier for a Web page, image, file, or other information.
• city server 502 stores the URL or other identifier in content database 506 in association with an identifier of the particular virtual window display location that has been leased by content provider 508 A. Thereafter, the URL is delivered as part of data definition 528 when requested by computer 512C.
• a content provider may make changes to the URL by interacting with interfaces 524.
• interfaces 524 may include a tenant access interface with which a tenant may specify an account name and password.
• the tenant Upon verification of the password, the tenant gains access to account information including HTML documents that display the URL or other network location identifier.
• Other information might include the display name of the display window and any category that the window might belong to. The tenant can enter updates to such information and submit an alternate page to the city server.
• FIG. 6B is a flow diagram of a process of browsing a virtual city.
• a three-dimensional virtual space browser is executed by a client.
• computer 512C executes browser 504.
• a client selects a city for viewing.
• computer 512C connects to universe server 500 and receives a list of virtual cities that are then-currently managed by the universe server. The list may be delivered in an HTML document, and all information exchanged as part of the process of FIG. 6B may comprise HTML documents or XML documents or a continuous streaming format.
• a user of computer 512C selects a particular virtual city, for example, by selecting a hyperlink or a user interface widget.
• step 624 the client contacts the Front End Server associated with the city server of the selected city. For example, selecting a particular city may result in the universe server redirecting the browser of the computer 512C to a particular city server 502.
• step 626 the client receives a data definition of a virtual city. For example, when browser 504 of computer 512C contacts the Front End Server associated with the city server 502, the browser requests and the Front End Server for that city delivers a copy of data definition 528.
• the client authenticates the data definition. For example, browser 504 uses cryptographic techniques to validate a digital signature of city server 502 that has been applied to data definition 528. Using such authentication, the browser 504 can verify that the data definition 528 is genuine.
• the client renders and displays the virtual city, and in step 632 the user navigates within the virtual city to view information content displayed in one or more virtual display windows.
• the three- dimensional virtual space browser 504 executed at computer 512C renders and displays a view of a virtual city based on parsing and interpreting the data definition 528.
• an initial view that is rendered and displayed by browser 504 depicts only particular virtual windows of virtual buildings of the virtual city, as seen, for example, in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 6C.
• FIG. 6C is a diagram of a virtual city screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method.
• Screen display 641 comprises one or more virtual buildings 642, 650 that include one or more virtual display windows 644, 646.
• Virtual buildings 642, 650 are depicted in virtual three-dimensional form and are delineated by virtual streets 652 and virtual sky 654. From a particular user viewpoint a first virtual building 642 may appear to be in a foreground or near position whereas a second virtual building 650 may appear to be in a background or far position.
• virtual display windows 644, 646 display textures rendered from HTML documents of online Web sites.
• the content of a particular virtual display window 646 appears the same as a corresponding Web site associated with a content provider that is the then-current tenant for the virtual display window.
• a user may interact with a virtual display window as if the window is a Web page. For example, a user can navigate to a particular virtual display window 646, view and select hyperlinks 648. In an alternative embodiment the interaction might be partial, so that clicking anywhere on a particular display window may result in a user navigating to another web page, no matter where the click was positioned within the window.
• the result of the interaction may cause the target Web site to open in a conventional two-dimensional web browser which forms another "view" within the virtual space browser.
• the content within the virtual space itself does not change as a result of the interaction, but the user switches to an alternate two-dimensional view of the web page.
• a virtual city as displayed by browser 504 is rendered based upon a specified virtual city grid arrangement that is defined in the data definition 528.
• FIG. 6D is a diagram of a virtual city grid screen display generated by one embodiment of an information display method.
• screen display 660 comprises one or more virtual buildings 642, 650 that include one or more virtual display windows 644, 646.
• Virtual buildings 642 are depicted in virtual three-dimensional form and are delineated by virtual streets 652.
• the virtual environment displays information content in the virtual display windows of virtual buildings.
• a virtual environment has provided merely decorative textures that serve as a background for a game or other use of the virtual environment.
• the information of the windows has inherent utility.
• step 638 a test is performed to determine if the user has navigated to a pay-per- view window.
• Step 638 is performed optionally in an embodiment that provides for regions of a virtual city that are protected by virtual gates and can be navigated only if the user satisfies particular criteria.
• criteria may include, for example, payment of a fee, the user having particular attributes such as a particular age, gender, security credential, etc.
• browser 504 If the user selects a gate that provides entrance to a gated area, browser 504 generates and displays a pop-up window that prompts the user to enter a Userld and Password. If the user does not have a password, then the user is required to register and obtain a password, and the registration may involve making a payment.
• a three-dimensional virtual space browser maintains an internal log of all actions performed by a particular user at a client computer.
• the client sends accumulated statistical information to the Front End Server associated with the city server.
• Step 634 may be performed periodically by pushing such information, or a copy of the browser log, to a city server 502.
• the browser 504 may implement an API that can be called by the city server 502 to request the log or statistical information on demand.
• Such statistical information or activity log information may be used to support a market for transfers or transactions in virtual property consisting of the virtual display windows described herein.
• statistical or activity log information indicates which virtual display windows are visited by a particular user. When such information is aggregated for all users, it indicates the amount of navigation traffic that is received for each virtual display window.
• a city server may use such traffic information to determine prices for tenant leases of the right to display content in a particular region, block, building or window. For example, a high volume of traffic at a particular virtual display window means that visitors to that display window are also likely to navigate to adjacent virtual display windows that are within the user's field of view. As a result, a high volume of traffic at a particular virtual display window means that adjacent windows also are more valuable.
• the browser may keep a history of the locations visited and the virtual spaces visited by the user, so that the user may retrace some of the movements made in the browser. This retracing may optionally be executed in the form of a tour.
• the browser may also have one or more predefined tours for each virtual space which may be specified in the data definition, thereby allowing the user to quickly become familiar with the virtual space which they are viewing.
• the user may decide to mark some of the virtual spaces and locations visited in MyPlaces which is a list of the user's preferred virtual spaces and locations.
• the client requests an updated city based on a local time value.
• the data definition is periodically updated by the city server in response to changes in tenancy for virtual display windows, or to reflect the addition or deletion of windows or buildings from the virtual city.
• the data definition is received by the client at repeated intervals that occur periodically during a browsing session.
• browser 504 may implement a polling timer such that the browser requests an updated version of data definition 528 upon expiration of the polling timer.
• An example duration of the polling timer is 10 minutes, but any other appropriate interval may be used.
• special processing may be applied different from the processing described above that is used for commercial cities.
• processing a user city typically will not involve collecting complete statistics at the browser and communicating them to the city server, as described herein with respect to step 634 of FIG. 6B.
• browser 504 may provide the city server only with a value indicating a number of requests for the user city data definition or XML. This value may simply be extracted from the log of connections made.
• the data definition 528 may be hosted at any server.
• the data definition 528 may be unencrypted and not signed. Instead, browser 504 may verify the authenticity of the data definition 528 simply by recognizing a template identifier within the data definition.
• the universe server maintains a blacklist of user cities that contain offensive or otherwise unacceptable content, based on a URL of a host server that serves the data definition of the user city.
• browser 504 determines whether a selected user city appears in a blacklist maintained by the universe server. If so, appropriate responsive action is taken, such as displaying a specified page that contains a warning message, displaying a warning message in a message field of the browser user interface, etc.
• RENEWALS, AUCTIONS AND TRANSFERS OF VIRTUAL PROPERTY FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a process of renewing a transaction associated with a display window in a virtual city. In one embodiment, the process of FIG. 7 is implemented in as part of applications or services 526 of a city server 502.
• step 702 a content accounts database is queried to identify one or more display agreements that are due to expire in a specified future time period.
• Step 702 may comprise performing a scheduled job that automatically queries a database, or may comprise manually issuing a query.
• a result set of one or more display agreement records is generated.
• the records relate to leases of virtual display windows in the virtual city managed by the associated city server.
• step 704 one or more renewal messages to expiring advertisers or content providers are generated. For example, based on the result set generated in step 702, automatic e-mail messages are generated and sent to content providers who are tenants or lessees identified in the result set records.
• step 706 renewals are negotiated.
• Step 706 may involve the city server and content provider negotiating the duration of a virtual window display lease, payment amount, and other terms of a lease transaction as necessary.
• Step 706 may be performed through human interaction or through manual or automated exchange of electronic messages.
• Such a negotiation may or may not result in agreement among the parties to the terms of a renewal lease for a particular virtual display window.
• step 708 a test is performed to determine whether a renewal has been rejected by a content provider acting as a tenant or lessee of a particular virtual display window. If so, then rights to the virtual display window may be auctioned, as indicated in step 710. For example, the auction process of FIG. 8 may be used.
• the content database and accounts databases are updated with information identifying a new lease term and other information relating to the renewed lease transaction.
• FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a process of auctioning a right to display information in a display window of a virtual city.
• a three-dimensional virtual space browser may be offered and possibly an adapted data definition of the city which when rendered will provided information to potential bidders about virtual display windows on which they may place a bid.
• city server 502 hosts an HTML document that contains links for downloading copies of virtual space browser 504.
• the process of FIG. 8 is implemented in as part of applications or services 526 of a city server 502.
• an auction is initiated for the exclusive right to display an advertisement or other content in a particular virtual display window for a specified time period.
• city server 502 may provide one or more HTML documents that specify display window locations in a virtual city and provide an offer to auction a display right for such locations for a specified fee or rent amount.
• an external auction system 520 may be used to run auctions.
• Such an online auction system may operate according to generally known principles in which a specified period of time is provided during which bidders may enter online bids for the offered rights. Bidders establish accounts with unique bidder identifier values, and enter into a binding agreement with the auction system 520 to complete a lease transaction for rights for which the bidders are successful. As shown in step 806, one or more bids are received in the auction system. The auction system optionally may require a deposit of funds as a surety or guaranty by which the bidder indicates a financial ability to complete a transaction. [0160] At step 808, a test is performed to determine whether the auction has ended, and in step 810 a high bidder is determined.
• the auction system 520 upon expiration of the specified period of time, automatically determines a winning bidder, notifies the winning bidder and an administrator of the city server 502, and provides instructions for completing a transaction. For example, as shown at step 812, the high bidder performs steps 606-616 of FIG. 6 A to complete a transaction.
• FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process of transferring a right to display information in a display window of a virtual city.
• the process of FIG. 9 is implemented in as part of applications or services 526 of a city server 502.
• the process of FIG. 9 may be used as one part of a larger process of providing a market for virtual real estate in a virtual city managed by a city server.
• step 902A a request is received to transfer, to a third party, a previously granted and paid-for right to display an advertisement or content in a particular virtual display window for a specified time period.
• city server 502 hosts an HTML document that contains links for receiving an online form in which a tenant of a virtual display window may request the city server to transfer the tenant's window display rights to a third party.
• step 902B an identity of a transferee and network location data associated with the transferee are received.
• the online form may include data entry fields or user interface widgets with which a tenant-transferor may specify a proposed transferee and a URL or other identifier of network content for future display in the tenant's particular virtual display window.
• a transfer payment is optionally received and processed.
• city server 502 may optionally charge a fee for the service of transferring virtual display window rights from an existing tenant to a new tenant. If this option is implemented, then as part of step 904 the city server may require the transferor to provide a fee, which is processed using payment system 522.
• step 905 content verification is optionally performed.
• city server 502 may accept only a particular kind of content for display by tenants in virtual display windows. Any standards may be applied by the city server at step 502. For example, one particular virtual city may restrict content only to information relating to a particular class of goods, a particular type of services, etc.
• step 905 may involve screening content of proposed transferees for acceptability to the users, etc. Step 905 may be performed through human interaction or via an automated process.
• step 906 content and accounts databases are updated, and a new account is created for a transferee if needed.
• FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example virtual space browsing system in which an embodiment may be used.
• a computer 1001 A hosts a three-dimensional virtual space browser 1001B and an operating system 518.
• the computer 1001A also includes a main memory 1007A and a display card 1008 A having display memory 1008B.
• Display card 1008A may be a separate card or integrated directly into computer 1001A.
• Display memory 1008B may be physically separate to main memory 1007 A, or shared.
• Computer 1001 A is communicatively coupled directly or indirectly through one or more networks 510 to a content service provider 502 that hosts stored content 506.
• content service provider 502 comprises a city server of the type described in Gettman et al.
• Computer 1001A contains or can access a source content disk cache 1021 and secondary page cache 1020.
• Computer 1001 A displays textures and other graphic images or subject matter on a display 1009.
• computer 1001 A comprises a personal computer based on the PCI bus, a workstation, a PDA, etc.
• Three-dimensional virtual space browser 1001B comprises initialization logic 1002, virtual space display logic 1004, a cache-input/output (I/O) thread 1006, window generation thread 1022, and control/rendering thread 1012. Threads 1006, 1022, 1012 are spawned by virtual space display logic 1004 in cooperation with operating system 518 to perform the functions described herein.
• initialization logic 1002 virtual space display logic 1004
• cache-input/output (I/O) thread 1006 window generation thread 1022
• Threads 1006, 1022, 1012 are spawned by virtual space display logic 1004 in cooperation with operating system 518 to perform the functions described herein.
• initialization logic 1002 interrogates display card 1008A, determines what graphic display functions are provided by the display card, and turns such functions on or off, including providing parameter values as needed.
• the foregoing capability of initialization logic 1002 is provided because various brands of graphics cards offer different types of display functions, thereby enabling three-dimensional virtual space browser 100 IB to inter-operate with many different kinds of graphics cards.
• display card 1008 A may provide an anti-aliasing function for improving the appearance of graphical images that it displays.
• Initialization logic 1002 can detect the presence of an anti-aliasing function in display card 1008 A and provide settings to enable the card to properly configure the function.
• virtual space display logic 1004 interacts with display memory 1008B to display a relatively small number of high-resolution textures and a relatively large number of low-resolution textures.
• display memory 1008B continuously stores high-resolution textures that are associated with virtual locations that are near a particular user viewpoint within a virtual three-dimensional space, which is a relatively small number of high-resolution textures, as well as all textures that appear in the distance with respect to the user viewpoint, which is a larger number of low-resolution textures.
• content 506 of a content service provider 502 comprises one or more HTML documents or Web pages.
• Computer 1001 A can obtain an updated copy of content 506 at any time by communicating with content service provider 502 through network 510.
• content 506 may be locally cached at computer 1001A using source content disk cache 1021.
• source content disk cache 1021 can store all most recently used HTML documents or Web pages, or those documents or Web pages that are within a current field of view with respect to the user's then-current viewpoint of the virtual world, or that are likely to be viewed next by the user as indicated by the user's location within the virtual world.
• Cache-I/O thread 1006 is responsible for loading content and paging content to the secondary page cache 1020.
• Window generation thread 1022 is responsible for retrieving content 506 from a content service provider 502 and generating a texture based on the content.
• the window generation thread 1022 is also responsible for saving updated content 506 to the source content disk cache 1021.
• Control & rendering thread 1012 is responsible for overall control of elements of the system and for rendering textures to the display card 1008A and its display memory 1008B in accordance with capabilities of the display card.
• FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 1100 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.
• Computer system 1100 includes a bus 1102 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 1104 coupled with bus 1102 for processing information.
• Computer system 1100 also includes a main memory 1106, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 1102 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 1104.
• Main memory 1106 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 1104.
• Computer system 1100 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 1108 or other static storage device coupled to bus 1102 for storing static information and instructions for processor 1104.
• ROM read only memory
• a storage device 1110 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 1102 for storing information and instructions.
• Computer system 1100 may be coupled via bus 1102 to a display 1112, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user.
• Computer system 1100 may comprise a display processor 1113 A and display memory 1113B coupled to bus 1102 for the purpose of storing image information and driving display 1112.
• a display processor and display memory may be provided as part of a graphics card in the computer system 1100.
• An input device 1114 is coupled to bus 1102 for communicating information and command selections to processor 1104.
• cursor control 1116 such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 1104 and for controlling cursor movement on display 1112.
• This input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in a plane.
• the invention is related to the use of computer system 1100 for implementing the techniques described herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, those techniques are performed by computer system 1100 in response to processor 1104 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 1106. Such instructions may be read into main memory 1106 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage device 1110. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 1106 causes processor 1104 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard- wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
• machine-readable medium refers to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion.
• various machine-readable media are involved, for example, in providing instructions to processor 1104 for execution.
• Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non- volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.
• Non- volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 1110.
• Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 1106.
• Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 1102. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications .
• Machine-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
• Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 1104 for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk of a remote computer.
• the remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem.
• a modem local to computer system 1100 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal.
• An infra-red detector can receive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place the data on bus 1102.
• Bus 1102 carries the data to main memory 1106, from which processor 1104 retrieves and executes the instructions.
• the instructions received by main memory 1106 may optionally be stored on storage device 1110 either before or after execution by processor 1104.
• Computer system 1100 also includes a communication interface 1118 coupled to bus 1102.
• Communication interface 1118 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 1120 that is connected to a local network 1122.
• communication interface 1118 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.
• ISDN integrated services digital network
• communication interface 1118 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN.
• LAN local area network
• Wireless links may also be implemented.
• communication interface 1118 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.
• Network link 1120 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices.
• network link 1120 may provide a connection through local network 1122 to a host computer 1124 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 1126.
• ISP 1126 in turn provides data communication services through the world wide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the "Internet" 1128.
• Internet 1128 uses electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams.
• the signals through the various networks and the signals on network link 1120 and through communication interface 1118, which carry the digital data to and from computer system 1100, are exemplary forms of carrier waves transporting the information.
• Computer system 1100 can send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network(s), network link 1120 and communication interface 1118.
• a server 1130 might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet 1128, ISP 1126, local network 1122 and communication interface 1118.
• the received code may be executed by processor 1104 as it is received, and/or stored in storage device 1110, or other non- volatile storage for later execution. In this manner, computer system 1100 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

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